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9:52 am
August 18, 2013
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Hello, I am the creator of Zerus, which is soon to have a portal airship installed at Vetropolis. I thought the idea of an underwater village was creative, but it wasn't until I was halfway through construction that I realized that VC is full of em'. Therefore I have come up with a new concept for a city in the near or distant future. When people hear "floating city" on Minecraft, they think "Oh, it's floating islands". I knew that the idea of flying cities would be overdone, but then I realized that most floating cities had the foundation of a floating island. So, what would make this floating city different? It would be built on top of clouds of wool. It fits better with the sky, it's not really something I've seen in VC, and it has a lot of potential, in my opinion (Who wouldn't wanna buy a personal cloud to build their homes on?). It is also easier than an underwater village (Finally, no draining! 
) and I can build more in less time. So, what do you think about this concept? I'd love to hear back and see if I can't start up some planning. Until then, I'll look after Zerus, the village that started the craze. I would appreciate any feedback you could give me on this subject.
-Zakur
9:48 pm
Staff Alumni
February 1, 2012
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Do some designs in single player, and post a few screen shots here. Curious to see what you're thinking.
Anthony Hughes
9:33 am
April 27, 2013
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I found your Easter egg in the tags. 
10:35 am
August 18, 2013
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So I threw together a first model in a few mins. Keep in mind that this is very far from a final draft and can only really be used to represent what I'm talking about. A few differences I had in mind for the final draft are as follows:
-The top will be flatter so people can walk around
-Most of the city will be on top of one huge cloud
-Buildings will be much smoother and better looking
-I will probably have better flag-building (and building in general) skills
-Streets may be made of gold (if I ever get that rich 
)
-The cloud may match the actual height of the other clouds
-If it needs to be more realistic and have a reason of flying, it can be built to look more artificial, yet able to float
-Stray clouds will be connected to via bridge (may look rickety or fancy, probably the latter)
Anyways, this is what I came up with in a few mins.
6:17 pm
February 4, 2013
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I've gotta say, that looks pretty nice. A floating city would definitely be a cool thing to have, just make sure the way up is not a cobblestone 1x1 ladder. 
Maybe have a fountain in the middle and have a 1x1 water dropping into a lake below to swim up? Just tossing out ideas. Keep up the good work!
6:48 pm
Staff Alumni
February 1, 2012
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I would think the best point of access would be an airship.
Anthony Hughes
7:38 pm
August 18, 2013
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Emulated said
I would think the best point of access would be an airship.Anthony Hughes
I would have to agree, but for people who would like to exit or enter the city from the ground, I was thinking of either a tower rising up into the cloud or a rainbow bridge. Either way, it's glad to hear that I've gotten people interested. I might soon come up with better designs until I eventually start the build in Veterancraft. I enjoy Zerus, but I think this build will end up leaving Zerus in the dust. 
sts512 said
I've gotta say, that looks pretty nice. A floating city would definitely be a cool thing to have, just make sure the way up is not a cobblestone 1x1 ladder.
Nice to hear from someone else. I want it to look like it belongs in the sky a little more, and a cobblestone ladder definetely doesn't suggest that.
Anyways, I hope to work on this idea a little more. I may have started something here!
-Zakur
8:11 pm
August 18, 2013
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Okay, your interest has gotten me interested even more. Therefore I have added more to my little model to make it look a little nicer. I tried making a quartz fountain and I think I did pretty well. I also did some weird stuff with the iron golem building to make... well, you'll see.
1:29 pm
Viceroy
Senior Mod
June 1, 2012
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I couldn't approve the above, not as it is.
The TL;DR version is hidden below. The short answer is that you need MUCH more cloud than you have here. It's not that the tower doesn't look good, but I just can't accept that cloud as its support. I know you're only doing an example here, but if you're doing a "proof of concept," that concept is currently falling short, at least for me.
So make me believe that the cloud doesn't just exist to support the city, but rather that you "found" an awesome cloud you could build a city on. Does that make sense?
The truth is that I'm always very nervous when it comes to requests for floating builds.
It's one thing for balloons and airships, and for good natural-looking floating islands, but to build something in the sky and then put a few dirt blocks or whisps of cloud underneath....that will never be good enough to me.
It comes down to a basic tenant: The clouds are an excuse to break our floating rule.
Let me explain. The "no floating structures" rule exists not to stifle creativity, but to make sure that Vetronian skies aren't clogged with all manner of floating junk. Requests to have something floating are allowed not so that players can have their floating structure in spite of the rules, but rather so that it can be assured that what is built looks so natural that it doesn't even feel like it falls into the same category as "floating violation."
With that in mind, the reason why we almost never approve floating structures (from my standpoint) is because they think about the structure they want to float first, then come up with an excuse to have it in the air. A chunk of dirt, a whisp of cloud, a single propeller, etc. It's all just an excuse, and that never looks good.
This isn't to discourage you, but think about it the other way around. Do the clouds first. Make the most beautiful cloud formations you can, big and fluffy and full of promise. Think about the naturally floating islands that Minecraft generates. Think of indev, think of the Aether, think of the unimplemented sky realm. If you build the floating foundation first, and only afterwards put a city on it, it would look so much better, and would be much more likely to get approved.
To end with with what I said above, I can't accept a cloud as a support. But I can accept a cloud that happens to hold a city. Knowing the difference between the two is very important.
Also, I would give a "no" to a rainbow bridge. A good tower might work, but seriously consider an airship ferry.
Good luck!
3:19 pm
August 18, 2013
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LightWarriorK said
This isn't to discourage you, but think about it the other way around. Do the clouds first. Make the most beautiful cloud formations you can, big and fluffy and full of promise. Think about the naturally floating islands that Minecraft generates.
Now that you've said it I couldn't agree more. I'll make sure to build the cloud first and be concerned with buildings later so it has a more natural feel. I'll try some more models later to see if I make a better, more natural feel. But just so you know, the cloud supporting the tower WAS built before the tower was. The new area though... not so much.
-Zakur
9:11 pm
August 18, 2013
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I tried making the cloud alone this time. I need to make it more oddly shaped, but I wanted to post this to see if it was okay (or what I need to change about it). I'd love to hear back.
-Zakur
4:11 pm
August 18, 2013
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I'm planning to start construction of "Aerium" soon, but, of course, I cannot do the build at all if the cloud design is not approved, therefore I must build an acceptable cloud design. If you have the time, please reply if the cloud design above is acceptable. If not, I will not go into constructing anything but the entrance tower until a design is approved. Thank you for your time.
-Zakur
6:07 pm
Viceroy
Senior Mod
June 1, 2012
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The shape of the cloud(s) is really not the issue here, Zakur, but the size. If that cloud were used, and your buildings came right to the edge of it, that'd be the same as before. Again, this cloud looks like the excuse to justify us bending our rules against floating structures. What we (as least, I) am looking for is to be able to say "awesome clouds there, some buildings in it would be nice," and not "it's a nice city, but why is it floating?" I hope that difference is clear.
Some inspirational images to help you get to that point:
6:40 pm
August 18, 2013
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Thanks for letting me know that the size was really the issue. Just letting you know that none of these creations were actually to scale. The real cloud when finished will be huge. When the cloud is finished, I will build it in such a way that it doesn't seem to be barely on the cloud. In other words, the finished product should be about either a 1:2 or 2:3 ratio between the city and the cloud when it comes to how much length and width is taken up. But, to try and convince you more, I will try to edit my older creation so that the cloud looks more natural AND better. And thanks for the photos
-Zakur
7:03 pm
August 18, 2013
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Well, that was fast work. I threw some more "cloud" together and, ignoring the fountain area, I think this cloud looks a lot more realistic based on size and looks from below. I also am glad to say that I can at least acknowledge that I have the right mindset. The tower viewed in the screenshots is now simply a placeholder. I have no idea what I'll build yet, because my main concern right now is the cloud. I plan to throw it together first, then see what I can build with it. Hopefully that will make it feel more realistic and acceptable. For now, this is what I threw together. If you feel like I need to make it bigger, let me know.
-Zakur
2:59 pm
Staff Alumni
February 1, 2012
Offline
The clouds are still too small, the buildings still too large.
Think of the restrictions of Minecraft. If this were approved, it would need to be very high off the ground, and the clouds would have to be immense structures. That would mean your buildings would lean to the shorter side due to the map height rule. Clouds don't hang out just off the ground, we call that fog.
Anthony Hughes
3:27 pm
August 18, 2013
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Emulated said
If this were approved, it would need to be very high off the ground, and the clouds would have to be immense structures. That would mean your buildings would lean to the shorter side due to the map height rule. Clouds don't hang out just off the ground, we call that fog.
I only built these short off the ground in creative. In the real thing, the clouds will be either equal to or above cloud level (as seen in the notes that went along with the first design). The buildings will be built to fit correctly. As for it being too small, I can still fix that. It's just a little hard editing a cloud that was originally built by flying around and rapid right clicking I'll make it bigger in the model. Thanks for the input.
-Zakur
(P.S. The entry tower has already been built over cloud level.)
3:59 pm
August 18, 2013
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I decided to forget about editing the tower area and instead took my clean 2nd example and made it larger with a placeholder house on top. I also added the little bridge to demonstrate how smaller clouds would connect to the main one (if someone wanted to buy a personal cloud*). I hope that this looks correct, because the cloud in this example seems big enough in relation to the size of the house. I'm sorry that I'm making little examples, but I don't want to spend half of my day building a spot on example that will just be thrown away when the real one is implemented into the server. I try to focus on demonstrating specific things, in this case. If you still don't like it, let me know. If you think it's good, then still let me know if you can. I'm excited to hear back!
-Zakur
*The acceptable building space would have to be within specific limits so the build would not take up the whole cloud and would fit correctly within requirements.
5:06 pm
Bishop
Members
April 23, 2013
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I just wanted to mention one thing, neither pro nor con but something to note: The area of land beneath a cloud city will be in permanent shadow, no matter how high the clouds are. This will effect plant growth and mob spawning in that land area. On the other hand, it could be the perfect place for a haunted mansion.
7:03 pm
August 18, 2013
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greens7976 said
I just wanted to mention one thing, neither pro nor con but something to note: The area of land beneath a cloud city will be in permanent shadow, no matter how high the clouds are. This will effect plant growth and mob spawning in that land area. On the other hand, it could be the perfect place for a haunted mansion.
That is precisely why I plan to build the area over a desert biome. There really isn't much plant life to kill in deserts and they aren't used too much. Besides, the spot I chose is near a plains biome if no one wants to build nearby on land in a desert biome. Plus, only spiders could possibly enter Aerium through the tower if there's any worries about monsters gaining access.
-Zakur
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